How Tech Will Help This Inspiring Dad Carry His Son Through an Entire Ironman Triathlon

Jeff Agar runs (and bikes and swims) the triathlon for two. The 54-year-old's son Johnny, 22, has cerebral palsy, and when Jeff Agar pushed and pulled his son through the 2016 Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, the effort turned heads. It even led Under Armour to create a Rule Yourself commercial in the mold of Michael Phelps, Johnny's inspiration.

But the Ironman is tough enough for one man, and Team Agar struggled through the 2.4 miles of swim in the Pacific Ocean, the 112 miles of biking up the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway and the final 26-mile run. Jeff's training wasn't quite comprehensive enough to handle the load of both men, the equivalent of a 340-pound person, and the Agar's couldn't finish before the time cutoff. The equipment wasn't quite up to the challenge, either.

Now Team Agar has more support. That means an entirely new training and technology plan for 2017. The Agars just completed the 70.3 Florida Ironman (a half-triathlon) five minutes ahead of their predicted time, and now have their sites set on returning to Hawaii this October. Working with professional coaches including Team USA head triathlon coach Thad Beaty and Nicole Serraiocco—plus a host of companies donating research and equipment—Jeff and Johnny are ready to finish what they started.

Donald Miralle/IRONMAN

Swim

For the swimming portion of the triathlon, the coaches focused on assessing Jeff's current movements and then improving his mechanics and training perspective, such as using power as the key metric. "When training with power you have a better understanding of your metabolic budget," Beaty says. "Last year I watched him coming out of the water pulling the boat and you could tell how metabolically expensive that was. We have stripped everything down and started over, from the training approach to every piece of gear involved."

Jeff now trains with paddles and swim bands and has learned an entirely new swim stroke. Previously, Beaty jokes, Jeff was using "the lovechild of the Titanic and something the Navy Seals would use to storm the beaches of Normandy," to two his son across the water. This time, Team Agar partnered with inflatable kayak company Advanced Elements to find the lightest, most stable craft with a secure harnessing mechanism. With the help of wetsuit maker Roka, they skinned the boat to help it "sit a little farther on top of the water and slide with ease."

Bike

Serraiocco says Jeff had to think hard about his power output on the bike, too. In partnership with the software suite of Training Peaks, Jeff now measures his watts per kilogram expended. A technology called Best Bike Split lets the coaches plug in the actual Kona course, and Jeff's equipment specs to give him the most accurate watts per kilogram he needs to race at to hit a desired time.

The team is still testing equipment on Jeff's bike, but Johnny's chariot has already undergone a transformation as the coaches took a hacksaw and lopped pieces off. "Everything from building a small aerodynamic shell to go over Johnny's feet to changing Jeff's riding position, helmet and wheels," Beaty says of the transformation. "The big thing was to upgrade the chariot." Beaty hopes to have Adaptive Star build out a full carbon chariot for Johnny before the Kona race.

Donald Miralle/IRONMAN

Run

Jeff could use the same chariot to pull Johnny through the 112-mile bike ride and the marathon. However, the team hopes to streamline Jeff's running with a second, lighter chariot for Jeff to push. Johnny remains hopeful to get out and walk the final mile of the race. He will partner with Brooks Running, who will "get Johnny with his walker in the lab and see what we see with him," Beaty says. "Anything helps."

Beaty says that while the team has really put a focus on high-tech training and new equipment that matches, they can never match the drive of Jeff and Johnny.

"Johnny is someone given a hand most probably fold," Beaty says. "But he sits as though he is holding a full house and playing with casino money. The joy is hard to put into words."

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